Santa Monica Pier

And Finally, the last of the bunch. We walked to the Santa Monica Pier many times. It was a busy place with rides and games. Very fun. The kids enjoyed it. There was a play ground right by it with fun obstacals for adults and kids alike. It was very cool. Doug even tried some of them out!

"Beach Trees"

Cooper started calling palm trees "beach trees" while we were in Santa Monica. I thought it was pretty cute. There was a huge hill with many palm trees by the condo. Cooper enjoyed rolling down and Fina enjoyed crawling up. Good thing there were two of us to chase the kiddos who were going in opposite directions.
Only one more vacation update left. I promise!

On A Summer Night Like This...(More Vacation Photos)

On a summer night like this, the air is warm and still, the light is absolutely perfect, you look at your family and you feel beyond blessed. All of your troubles melt away into the sunset and you only think about "right now", you truly live in the moment. On a summer night like this, you are so happy you can palpate the feeling. On a summer night like this, you are thankful for photography so that you can capture it so perfectly that by looking at the photos you almost weep because you feel the feeling you felt when you took them. It was a beautiful summer night.

Summer Vacation, Santa Monica

We are so lucky. My sister let us use her Santa Monica beach house for a 10 day vacation. The best part was that we saw her and her family nearly every day. We stayed at their house a few nights but mostly stayed at the beach. As usual, we took a million photos. These show pretty well what we did. We hit the beach at least once a day if not twice. It was wonderful. We quickly saw the appeal of California living. It was pretty amazing! Doug and I jogged on the beach in the sand, we swam every day (did I mention we had a pool at our condo too!), Cooper became very comfortable playing in the ocean, and Fina loved playing in the sand. Every night we crawled into bed, tired from playing at the beach with sand in our sheets. Never tired from stress. It was a perfect vacation.
It is important to my sister and I that our kiddos are close so we visit often. It was so great to see Cooper and Fina bond with their cousins in California. Lots of playing, lots of swimming, lots of staying up too late, lots of love. It was great! My parents came with us for the first 6 days which was great. We love hanging out with my parents, they are like our best friends. I know we are dorks.
More in another blog post.





























Crashed out after a very fun day and staying up much past bedtime :)

Our Big 4 Year Old

Our Cooper is 4! I can't believe it. He has grown into such a lovely boy. Poor guy, I feel like we are learning how to be parents on him. He seems to be pretty tolerant of his Mommy and Daddy though. He is such a bright and happy child, a true joy to be around. He is beautiful inside and out. He is sensitive and empathetic. I am lucky to have this guy around, I really am. Cooper made me a mommy, my life long dream. I love him so much it hurts sometimes!
We had a party for his birthday. We served his favorite foods, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (cut out in the shape of planes), edamame, carrots and ranch, watermelon, and lemonade. We had a pinata in the shape of train, which was very fun. Annie made him a very special cake in the shape of a train! She really outdid herself. It was a great party. He got an electric train from us which after he opened it he said "thanks guys, I am really pleased with you! " He got a big boy bike for his birthday and the day after he turned 4 he rode it with no training wheels. It was an emotional moment for me. I know, I know. Many boys have learned to ride a bike and many more will but it was really big for me. It made me feel excited about him growing up. Excited to see all of the things that he is going to learn and discover. For the first time in his life I feel okay with him growing up. I know that sounds crazy but I hold on so tight to the baby years that I loose sight of how wonderful it is to see him grow and learn. What a privilege it is to watch a child grow. It is truly a blessing. He is at an awesome age. Eager to learn everything he can and so much fun to talk to. I am loving 4 so far! Bring it!
I am late on blogging about it because we went to LA for nearly 2 weeks and I was unplugged for most of the time, which was great!
Happy 4th birthday my man! We love you!